Tuesday 14 May 2019
Tune of the Day: Within a Mile of Edinburgh Town
arranged for two flutes
This duet is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in Philadelphia in 1833. The air is usually attributed to English organist and composer James Hook (1746–1827), although some sources attribute it to Henry Purcell or to Jeremiah Clarke.
This tune has become famous as the vehicle for a song of the same name by English writer Thomas D'Urfey (1653–1723), which “is a noted example of those composed by English wits in imitation of the Scots Manner, and which were, with little discrimination, accepted as Scots songs in Scotland itself.” (Robert Chambers, The songs of Scotland prior to Burns, 1890)